Michelle Chaka, Director of the Division of Data & Analytics, is the recipient of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International 2021 J. Cordell Breed Award for Women Leaders.
Hampton Clay Gabler III, an esteemed faculty member of the Center for Injury Biomechanics, died on Jan. 11, 2021, surrounded by his loving family. In his work for the Center for Injury Biomechanics, a research partnership between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University, Gabler utilized crash modeling and simulation techniques. His academic legacy spans the fields of injury biomechanics, crash safety and vehicle crashworthiness, automated vehicles, and aeronautical safety.
In December, the Society for Automotive Engineers International’s Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC) released the first set of best practices designed to help police, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel interact safely with automated driving system-dedicated vehicles (ADS-DVs)—even without the presence of human drivers.